The present invention relates to a water reclamation system for a vehicle wash system and in particular to a water reclamation system that removes particulate matter from the water sufficiently to enable the water to be used in a high pressure vehicle wash that cleans the vehicle primarily or solely by spray impact of water against the vehicle. Such a wash system typically requires a positive displacement pump which is more sensitive to particulate matter in the water than other types of pumps.
Many vehicle wash systems employ a water reclamation process whereby much, if not most of the water used in the vehicle wash is recycled for use again. This reduces the overall water consumption by the vehicle wash as well as the quantity of water discharged from the vehicle wash. Many vehicle wash systems use water in combination with brushes and/or soft cloths or other devices to remove dirt and debris from the vehicle surface. Other vehicle wash systems utilize a high pressure water spray without any brushes, soft cloths or other devices contacting the surface of the car. To provide an effective car wash without the use of brushes, it is necessary to have a higher water impact on the vehicle surface as compared to vehicle wash systems utilizing brushes, etc. To produce the necessary high pressure, a positive displacement pump or a multi-stage centrifugal pump is typically required. These pumps are more sensitive to particulates in the water. As a result, a high pressure wash, especially utilizing a positive displacement pump, requires a higher degree of water purity than in a low pressure wash.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a water reclamation system for use in a vehicle wash system to provide high purity recycled water to the vehicle wash system.
Many low pressure soft cloth vehicle wash systems are converting to high pressure spray systems and thus require a better water reclamation and filtering system than previously used. It is another object of the invention to provide a reclamation system that is suitable for easy installation into an existing vehicle wash establishment as it converts to a high pressure vehicle wash.
In a vehicle wash system with water recycling, since large quantities of water remain within the vehicle wash system, it is necessary to control or eliminate odors produced by bacteria in the water. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a water reclamation system that controls odor from the water within the wash system.
Typical water reclamation systems utilize a plurality of particulate separators or filters to clean the water. Solid particles that have been separated from the water are returned from the separators to the wash system settling pit or above ground tanks. Due to the distance which these solids often must travel to reach the settling pit, it is necessary to have an adequately large vertical drop from the particulate separators to the settling pit to enable satisfactory gravity flow. The present invention utilizes a pump for pumping the particulate matter from the solid separators to the settling pit thereby eliminating the requirement for a large vertical drop from the separators to the settling pit.
In addition, the same pump can also be used to draw water and debris from the bottom of a secondary or tertiary or cleanest settling pit and pump it back into the primary settling pit. This creates a continuous circulation of water through the settling pits regardless of the use of the vehicle wash system. In other words, during periods of non-use, water circulation can be maintained through the settling pits. With the addition of an aerator in the circulation path, proper oxygen levels in the water can be maintained to prevent odors from being produced. Since the water in the settling pits is oxygenated and this same water is drawn from the pits for reuse in the wash system, oxygenate water is present throughout the wash system.
The reclamation system includes a filter for water drawn from the settling pit of the wash system. The filter includes a housing with a filter element contained therein to divide the interior of the housing into first and second portions. The water inlet from the settling pit is directed into the first portion of the housing interior, i.e. dirty side of the filter, while a clean water outlet is in the second portion, i.e. clean side of the filter, whereby water must flow through the filter element before reaching the clean water outlet. Preferably, the filter element is cylindrical, and has slot openings which extend in a circumferential direction. The dirty water inlet is arranged to produce a circumferential or spiral water flow within the housing over the surface of the filter element to wash and clean debris from the filter element. A solids purge outlet at the bottom of the filter housing enables the solids that have been filtered from the water to be removed from the filter housing. The purged debris is pumped to the primary settling pit of the vehicle wash.
The water reclamation system further utilizes one or two solids separators. In a preferred embodiment, two separators are used. The first separator is preferably a cyclone separator while the second separator is preferably a clarifying tank. Both separators utilize centrifugal forces and the gravity to separate solids from the water. Other types of separators can also be used.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, only three pumps are required in the entire system. A first pump, a sump pump, is used to pump water through the filter, through the first solids separator and into the second solids separator or holding tank. A second pump, which may be a high pressure or other type of pump, is utilized to provide cleaned water from the holding tank to the vehicle wash system. A third pump, a purge pump, is used to remove solids from the separators and the filters. The purge pump is also used to draw water from one end of the settling pits and circulate the water to the other end of the settling pits while doing so, the water is oxygenated to control odor. By utilizing a purge pump to clean debris from the separators, a large vertical drop is no longer necessary from the separators to the settling pit, thereby enabling the overall height of the water reclamation system to be reduced. Preferably, the height of the system is such that a module containing the pumps, cyclone separator, clarifier tank and related equipment can be pre-mounted to a frame and fit within a standard size transport truck. The entire package is then suitable for placement on the floor of a vehicle wash system without any alterations required. If the water reclamation system is being used to upgrade an existing carwash facility that already has a suitable pump for the vehicle wash system, the second pump outlined above may not be required.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the third pump, the purge pump can be used to perform all of the following functions: 1) remove solids from the secondary settling pit and deposit them elsewhere; 2) clean the solids from the filter; 3) clean solids from the cyclone separator, other separators and clarifying tanks; and 4) maintain a water circulation through the settling pits and provide aeration of the water.